Both carriageways of the M5 have been closed at Frankley after a woman climbed to the edge of a motorway bridge.

Initial reports from the scene suggest police have blocked off the area around the Illey Lane bridge, near Frankley services, after the woman threatened to throw herself from the ledge.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman confirmed that officers were at the scene, but could not say whether the same negotiation team that eventually talked a man down from a bridge in Birmingham city centre yesterday after a 28-hour stand-off had been sent out again.

“We were called to reports of a woman on the wrong side of the barriers,” the spokeswoman added.

“As a precaution, the M5 has been closed North and Southbound between junctions three and four.”